parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (06/25/85)
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NEW CORDLESS PHONE DISTANCE RECORD?
by Bob Parnass
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - If you use a cordless telephone, you
may be overheard by people 1000 miles away.
Jack Albert, a radio hobbyist in New Lenox, Illinois
was watching TV channel 2 the evening of June 23 when
he noticed another TV signal competing with the local
Chicago station. Suspecting a "band opening", a
natural phenomenon in which radio signals "skip" off
the ionosphere, permitting reception of signals from
extraordinary distances, Albert turned on his 6 meter
ham radio receiver and found that conditions favored
reception of signals from North Carolina.
Retuning his receiver to frequencies adjacent to the
ham band, Albert's attention was drawn to two people
conversing amidst the clamor of several other cordless
phone conversations. When asked why he was sure that
the parties were in North Carolina, Albert stated that
both parties had "North Carolina accents" and that the
slow fading pattern on the cordless phone signals
matched that on the ham signals from the same state.
Albert regularly uses his 25 year old "Clegg Intercep-
tor" receiver, connected to a 5 element beam antenna on
a 45 foot tower, to monitor radio signals from his home
station WA9FVP.
Radio hobbyists report that reception of cordless phone
conversations from distances of one to two miles is
common, but this may set the distance record in recep-
tion of these signals.
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414